Flick Picks 3/13/2015: Hunger Games Mockingjay, Part 1, Rosewater

Fantasy or reality?  Take your pick.  Both arrive in the form of fictional feature films this week.  One story is based on real events. The other?  Not so much....


HUNGER GAMES MOCKINGJAY, PART 1

Yes, the intrepid and wily Katniss Everdeen is back in this first film based on the final book of Suzanne Collins' enormously successful series.  Jennifer Lawrence again plays the story's heroine, assuming the role of "Mockingjay," the symbol of rebellion to the oppressed citizens of Panem, fighting that no good president, Coriolanus Snow.    


ROSEWATER

Based on the memoir, Then They Came For Me, by Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molloy, Rosewater is the first foray into film writing and direction by the Daily Show's John Stewart.  Bahari appeared on the Daily Show, an interview which Iranian authorities used as a pretense to arrest and detain the Iranian-Canadian journalist was for 118 days in 2009, often brutally interrogating him.  The talented Gail Garcia Bernal plays Bahari 

Also available:  KILL THE MESSENGER, NIGHTCRAWLER

Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb, who in the 1990's alleged in a series of articles that the CIA's was involved in importing cocaine in the United States to support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.  Jeremy Renner heads a strong cast as Webb, whose efforts are not appreciated by the C.I.A.

Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this largely nocturnal L.A. thriller about a thief who finds a dubious niche, providing footage of crime and accidents for local news.  Well-reviewed, Nightcrawler was nominated for best original screenplay at the 2015 Academy Awards.  

Coming soon:  FOYLES WAR SET 8, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, INTERSTELLAR

db